The Way
The Oak in the Forest of Ephraim
A prince hanging between heaven and earth
Story
Beside the gate of Mahanaim, David divided his troops into three and put them under Joab, Abishai and Ittai the Gittite. When the king said he would go out with them, the people stopped him: “You are worth ten thousand of us. Stay in the city and help us from there.” As the army marched out of the gate by hundreds and by thousands, the king gave the three commanders an order in everyone's hearing: “For my sake, deal gently with the young man Absalom.”
The battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. The Israelite army that followed Absalom collapsed before David's men, and twenty thousand fell that day. The fighting spread over the whole countryside, and the forest swallowed more men than the sword. Absalom was riding a mule, and as it passed under the tangled branches of a great oak, his head caught fast. The mule kept going, and Absalom was left hanging between heaven and earth.
A soldier who saw it told Joab. When Joab demanded why he hadn't struck him down, the soldier answered, “Even if you put a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not lay a hand on the king's son.” Joab would hear no more. He took three small spears and thrust them into the heart of Absalom, who was still alive, and ten of Joab's men finished him off. Joab blew the trumpet and stopped the battle. They threw Absalom into a pit in the forest and piled a great heap of stones over him.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and David
For my sake, deal gently with the young man Absalom.
You must not go out. You are worth ten thousand of us. It is better for you to stay in the city and help us from there.
Even if a thousand shekels of silver were put in my hand, I would not lay a hand on the king's son. The king gave you that order in the hearing of us all.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 2 Sam 18:1–18
Background
While he was alive, Absalom set up a pillar bearing his own name in the King's Valley, saying he had no son to carry on his name. The tomb in the Kidron Valley known today as “Absalom's Monument” was built in a much later age.
Pause and Reflect
Can I correct someone who has done wrong without losing compassion?